#fic: love is a katsudon

[pikahlua]

Pika I wanna cry, why do all good things end

To give us an opportunity to commemorate them!

I encourage everyone to take this opportunity to make a ritual to send MHA off. I for one will eat katsudon that day!

Make your tribute art and fics! Listen to the whole MHA OST that day! Make a silly meme to post! Draw Kacchan's face on a sugar cookie!

And continue loving MHA long after. I've got a long MHA fanfic I've gotta keep writing, and hopefully I can get a new chapter out in time for the end!

[bakudekuficlibrary]

BakuDeku: Wrong Number

1 Series. 7 Works.

Anonymous asked: Do you guys have any Wrong Number fics? Just finished reading Bluebird and wanted more of that trope!

Bluebird by EtherealBeing ( E | 53,108 | 7/7 )

Dialing a wrong number was no unusual occurrence. Everyone did it once in a while, and Katsuki was well aware of that fact.

However, possessing this knowledge made it no less aggravating for him to discover — a full two minutes into his rant about his day — that he’d been venting his frustrations to a complete stranger. As if that wasn’t enough, said stranger was also inexplicably determined to hear his story to its end.

The Great Katsuki Bakugou Textmergency by brichibi ( T | 6,559 | 1/1 )

All right. Fine. Katsuki Bakugou loves Izuku Midoriya. The first step is texting that information to best bud Eijirou Kirishima. The second step is to accidentally send the love confession to that Stupid Deku. The third step is to PANIC and dial “squad” for immediate backup.

[Series] Wrong Numbers and Complicated Feelings by LoveGeek15 ( T | 32,325 | 2 Works | Complete )

It’s perfectly dark in Izuku’s room; not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate through these seals. The only light that shone in his abyss, despite it being three in the afternoon, was his computer —

'make sure you eat lunch idiot'

— and the above message that was displayed from the newest and strangest number in his phone.

(Izuku answers a spam call that ends up being more than just a number on his phone.)

Not Her Number by vintige ( Not Rated | 3,708 | 1/1 )

a wrong number. weird conversations. and katsudon withdrawal. and Christmas lights. what could go wrong?

or Midoriya Izuku misdials Ochako's number and ends up making a new friend (or something more!) just in time for Christmas

[Abandoned] Payphone by flowercafe ( M | 5,433+ | 3/? )

Izuku’s in trouble — like, SOS trouble. Lucky for him, he’s one phone call away from salvation. Hopefully his trembling fingers dial the right number, because it would really suck if he accidentally called a stranger right now.

or

The “I was walking home alone in the middle of the night and someone started following me so I ran into this phone booth with a lock on the door to call for help, but my hands were shaking so badly I accidentally dialed the wrong number and I don’t even know who you are but please help me" au — ft. a Quirkless Izuku whose misdial connects him to the personal cell line of pro hero Ground Zero.

[Abandoned] Who are you texting? by chetrambles ( T | 5,024+ | 2/5 )

Midoriya accidentally texts the wrong number, but instead of not texting it again, he kinda- does. His faceless friend slots into his life like he was always meant to be in it, though his friends are more than wary about the situation.

Bakugou had not expected anything more than annoyance from the idiot who couldn't remember his friends number, so he was as surprised as all of his friends when the nerd starts growing on him.

What happens when the lines of friendship become blurred?

[Abandoned] Kiss Me Through the Phone by dynyamight ( T | 7,759+ | 3/15 )

“You got all that, right?” Shinsou asks, readjusting his backpack on his shoulders. Midoriya hums absentmindedly. He’s still quickly jotting down the last few digits onto his planner. “And, you said tomorrow, around 7:00? At the library?” ���Yeah,” Shinsou shrugs, “Or anytime really. The deadline isn’t until next month, you know.” “I kinda just want to get it done, as soon as possible.” Shinsou breathes out a snort. “Figured you’d say that much. Just make sure you got my number. Repeat it, if you need to.”

Midoriya should have done exactly that. Unbeknownst to him, Bakugou's phone number was just one digit off Shinsou's.

hang each night in rapture by Radiant_Allomancer ( E | 1,698+ | 1/? )

ooo somebody’s getting *defensive* I’m getting such an interesting picture of you already -angry hedgehog -foot fetish -daddy kink -will send threatening messages to friends and strangers out-of-the-blue -has the vocabulary of a middle schooler

shut the fuck up oh my god do you ever stop talking

do you know any other curse words besides fuck??

a bkdk wrong number AU

To see the original 2019 post, click here.

[yoificfinder]

In celebration of women, here are some fics centered around the great women of YOI! Happy international women's day! ♀️✨️

(Don't) Give a Damn by @forochel [T, 9K]

Mari, through the years,

an open door by tripcyclone [G, 8K]

Lilia never wanted children of her own, but caring for Victor gives her a glimpse into the life she chose to pass by.

and your feet will follow by @prinzenhasserin [T, 13K]

Lilia’s relationship with her fellow ballerinas wasn’t usually complicated. Usually, she knew exactly where she stood. Not so with Minako Okukawa who had disappeared from the ballet world some years ago to hide in the dance studio of a backwater town in Japan.

Lilia didn’t care about that, of course. Not at all. She just deserved a vacation, to Japan, incidentally.

another girl in another time by cityboys [G, 11K]

Wouldn’t it be cool if there really is another version of you out there?

Beautiful in Knowing by @val-creative [T, 1K]

Sara knew she was a girl, even if nobody else did or believed her.

She ordered Michele to call her "Lady Sara" from now on. He would roll his eyes and grumble, but never attempt to misgender her. She liked "Sara" — it meant "lady, princess, noblewoman". And she would never go back to her deadname.

if friends were flowers, i'd pick you by windupbirdgirl [G, 4K]

During the first two years of high school, Yuuko finds she barely has time to breathe. The sky seems very far away, the sea even more so. She hasn’t gone to the rink in months.

if love is king, who wears the crown by @crollalanzaa [G, 1K]

“Second is seen as nothing,” Christophe had derided.

“But that moment you glide onto the ice, that hush of the audience, and that expectation, isn’t that worth something?”

“You speak as if you know. You used to skate?"

Past tense. It still stung, even if it was expected.

Minako knows exactly what it's like to be at the top of your game, and she remembers the descent just as clearly.

if she wants me by renaissance [G, 6K]

Hiroko and Minako, then and now.

if the sea has any draw for you by weird_bird [E, 8K]

The first time Mila saw her dance in person, her power funneled down into elegance, the granite of her face transmogrified to marble, she almost gave her the password to her bank account, she’s that good.

kagura by night by seventhstar / @pencilwalla [T, 1K]

The world around her is like the mountains.

A mortal lifespan is narrow; mortals watch the mountain’s unchanging faces, unravaged by the same measure of time that takes a human from dust to dust, and think them immortal in comparison. But stone erodes, just as flesh decays. It just takes longer.

If she watches long enough, everything changes. Languages drift until all the words she learned before are meaningless. Technology changes until she ceases to believe in magic because human ingenuity is more infinite than the stars. What is beautiful, what is polite, what is wrong, what is right—time, given its way, reshapes all.

But Minako’s body remains as it has always been. That’s why she loves to dance, she supposes; it’s the one thing time cannot take from her.

Katsudon by @azriona [G, 8K]

Hiroko doesn’t need to see to coat pork cutlets in egg and panko. She has made this dish for her family for over thirty years; she’ll make it another thirty, if she’s lucky.

Now she makes it for Yuuri and Victor as they fly home from Barcelona, with silver around their necks and gold around their fingers.

keep me steady as we go by orphan_account [G, 3K]

When Isabella stood and crossed the room to where he sat she saw her notebook open in his lap, turned to the last page of their to-do list, all but three items crossed off with less than a month to the wedding date. License. Ceremony. Everything after. She saw the angle of his gaze, too, not on the words but straight ahead, staring blank and glassy and brittle into some invisible place she still wasn’t sure she could follow him to, yet. And yet she had been the one who’d promised to try—and to keep promising, forever and forever.

Kooks by BoxWineConfessions [G, 3K]

Mari clasps her right hand across her left hand and rests them both atop her growing stomach. “I guess you’re just lucky that your father, I mean your other father, my brother-“ Mari giggles. “God, it all sounds so weird, doesn’t it? Do you care? Do you care that we’re all so fucked up and we don’t care at all?” Mari laughs again. It’s all she can do when she hurts this much, and wants a cigarette this much, but can’t stop smiling despite the fact that her body seems to hate her so much. “Well he means the world to me. That’s why I have you.”

Living in the Maybe by @adrianners [T, 6K]

It wasn’t hard to spot a 180cm platinum blond in Fukuoka International Airport. Especially when he was the only person wearing sunglasses. Indoors. At night.

Mari picks Viktor up at the airport when he returns from Moscow. Without Yuuri there to play his usual role of interpreter, they learn to communicate around their linguistic, cultural, and personal barriers.

my better self by @spookyfoot [G, 1K]

Mila's the first friend Yuuri's made in Russia. Technically, Yuuri became friends with Yurio in Hasetsu, but he'd never say that to Yurio's face.

On his first day training in Russia, Mila stole Yuuri from the rink and showed him pictures of Victor and Georgi wearing Spice Girls t-shirts Victor had picked up at a consignment shop during Skate America in 2006, and a video of them skating a synchronized routine to "Stacy's Mom."

"Don't let anyone here intimidate you. I guarantee none of them are scarier than Yura." They watched Victor skate circles around Yuri on the ice, Mila's camera primed for blackmail material—just in case.

_________

Yuuri and some of the women in his life, through the years.

Variations on a Theme by BoxWineConfessions [M, 20K]

Mari doesn't like it when the past and the present overlap so easily. Mari knows the mischievous grin and the burn of eyes that linger too long. They're the trademark of girls who are still figuring out what they want, but want relentlessly. Mari is tired of letting people in, only to have to say goodbye when their vacation is over.

Mila has experienced this before, this knowing little smile that implies that they know something about her body that she doesn’t. It comes across as cocky, and arrogant on men, and gentle with Mari. Mari looks like she's just told her some kind of wonderful secret.

Together, they reshape their expectations.

[triptychgrip]

If Viktor Nikiforov ever wrote a memoir…

…I think it’d be food-centric, and titled something along the lines of Eating Katsudon With Yuuri: How Figure Skating’s “Living Legend” Found A Home Beyond The Ice. Its cover photo would make even the most hardened heart (i.e. belonging to one Seung-Gil Lee) melt, featuring an image of our two favorite ice husbands wearing their skates and sitting side-by-side at the boards in Ice Castle Hasetsu. Yuuri would be holding a piping-hot bowl of katsudon, with his arm outstretched to feed a bite to Viktor.

It should go without saying that the latter’s heart shaped smile would be out in full-force, and they’d be surrounded by Makkachin and the multiple other poodles they adopt once Yuuri came to live in St. Petersburg. And as for the content, Viktor would dedicate each chapter to a different food item that holds special meaning in his life, such as the oyakodon dish that the two of them learned to make in Russia over FaceTime with Hiroko, that chaotic lesson helping to reaffirm that even away from the onsen, the two of them would continue to make special memories with Yuuri’s family.

Or, the inarguably lavish meal of oestra caviar that Yakov treated him to shortly after he’d won gold at the 2006 Turin Games, as an intrepid teenager eager to prove himself. (Viktor would detail how Yakov refused to repeat the reward after his second Olympic gold, not wanting to “make a habit out of such decadence”.) The promo for the memoir’s publication would be absolutely over-the-top, and Viktor would time it to coincide with the second or third iteration of the Viktor and Friends ice show (which allowed Toshiya and Hiroko to throw him a proper publication party in the onsen’s courtyard that all their friends would be able to attend).

Oh, and given the strong food themes, Viktor would make an appearance on the Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meals YouTube show, and you can bet that he’d get Chef Josh to recreate some of the food he and Yuuri served at their wedding 🥹😭

Note: I’ve linked Becky Lynch’s episode of ‘Last Meals’ in which she promoted her memoir, which was the thing that kicked off this little brainstorming session (which may lead to some fic development)

Note (2): and by ‘may’ I mean ‘almost definitely’; if you’ve read my fic detailing Yuuri and Viktor’s appearance on Vanity Fair’s Lie Detector game series, you probably realize how much I love writing post-canon media appearance content

[vickyvicarious]

⌨️ What modern technology would you use to fight vampires?

🖊️ Have you ever created any Dracula fanworks? If so, which one are you proudest of?

🍲Do you like paprika hendl? What's your favourite dish that's not local to your country?

⌨️- This is a tricky one. So many options... Well, one thing I would definitely want to do is take advantage of the ways instant communication is made easier in our day. Texting or calling my fellow vampire hunters to make sure we are all in the loop and not missing any important communications! Research without having to be on-site could potentially be easier, and travel faster. As far as some kind of innovative measures against them... I don't know that I would have the means to use it if it even worked but I wonder if there could be some kind of UV lamp that might weaken a vampire in the same way as being out in the day, even if to a lesser amount. That's less likely with Dracula vampires though, where it's more about the timing than the light. Though that in turn makes me wonder how timezones affect it, haha. Hey, I could always attempt to taze a vampire? I dunno.

🖊️ - I've not really. I've thought about writing fic but just haven't really gotten the urge to actually do it. Mostly just thought about it because I typically write fic when I get invested in a fandom, not because I have a particular idea calling to me. I've done tons of meta though, both in analysis and just kind of tracking timelines and such.

🍲 - I've not! I've meant to give it a go but I haven't gotten around to it on the day it's mentioned each year, and then just forgot. I love a ton of foods that aren't local and always have a hard time picking a favorite. But one I very much love is katsudon. Pork, rice, egg, veggies. A nice hearty and filling meal that is always welcome in the winter.

[oatmealcrisp-freak]

Yuuri Katsuki has Bullied Kid energy.

Yuuri : Don't you dare see me as weak or perceive my vulnerability. Please comfort me and reassure me. I'll be constantly afraid of your reaction if I inconvenience you. Nothing scares me more than the people I trust lying to me. I'm more competent and at home in the face of people's scorn than in the face of their genuine love for me. The idea that anyone could see me as desirable is baffling. The world sees me as little more than dirt and I don't disagree with them. I am going to make them eat their teeth with their words or so help me I will set myself on fire trying. Just watch, I am the most beautiful woman in town and you will rue the day you underestimated me. How you like me now?

Victor, thinking he'd been dumped by the first person who'd made him happy in a very long time : I see this, I respect this, I am going to use the hell out of this. Hey. Hey fatty. Watch me pry the thing you love and use to cope with your feelings right out of your fingers until you lose weight. kinda reminiscent of what you did to me :) kinda sorta you know just a lil bit. You don't know what eros is? Okay, now you're just making fun of me.

Victor, after Yuuri had his katsudon eros realization : ...JFC he actually literally doesn't know. I. Uh. ...Huh. Well. Uhm. Okay. Maybe that means he doesn't get OTHER things too. He. He genuinely doesn't know what he did to me. He probably didn't even do it deliberately. Okay. Okay? Okay. I can work with this. THINK OF THE JUICY SUCCULENT PORK, BABE. ...I can't fkn believe this.

Victor, several episodes later when Yuuri reveals he literally doesn't remember the banquet: ...Well shit. The past year of my life has been a lie and I might be an asshole. Hm.

I've read some fics where after Yuuri's ED gets triggered and he crashes hard Victor looks back at all those early comments and goes 'I didn't mean it that way babe you're hot when you're fat and you weren't even that fat it was just that it could be unsafe for your joints to skate in that condition' and sure okay I get wanting to minimize the blow and Yuuri is adorable AF when he's heavier and i still enjoy those fics for the most part but

I disagree with that fully and completely cus nah, Victor's a petty lil bitch who can be cold and ruthless and isn't afraid to hurt people. Is he also warm and kind and loving and doing his best? Yes. He contains multitudes. But he was absolutely aiming to hurt, because he was hurt.

Yuuri, meanwhile, who's been bullied for a great majority of his childhood but has complete faith in Victor and unwavering confidence in his honesty - especially when that honesty fits his world view - that he has an entire Victor shaped blind spot : Eh? Pfft. He wasn't bullying me, what are you talking about? He was literally telling the truth. :/ I mean really, he was taking care of me.

Victor, falling to the ground and clutching his stomach with a groan because ooouuugghhh guilt-nausea : Y-....Yuuri.....

Yuuri : I mean Yurio can be a bully but that's just how he shows he cares so :3 Nah haha, I've had waaaay worse, trust me, lol

Yurio : ....I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of?

Victor, convulsing :

I think Yuuri can absolutely pick up on when Victor is being dishonest with him and poking his sharp little fingers into the sore spots, but more on an intuitive level that he doesn't know how to make sense of logically, so he just accepts it and moves on largely without comment a;dlkf he'll probably figure it out like fifteen years down the road when he's older and wiser and one day he squints at his husband and goes "...huh, okay" and then never does anything about it anyway because he loves Victor and forgives him and also Victor's hot when he's being mean so

[aconstantstateofbladerunner]

I loved your dekugate toshinko headcanons! If it's okay, do you have more headcanons of them? I really love how you write them in your fics

Inko likes the edge pieces of brownies while Toshi likes the middle pieces. Soulmates.

Toshinori loves gift giving, and he’s a famous hero with too much money so price is never an issue. Inko is unfortunately a very practical person, so unnecessary luxuries are more of a hassle that takes up space. (Also there’s some insecurity about feeling like a gold digger since she makes way less than him.) She had to implement a rule making him ask her first before he bought a gift worth more than $200 otherwise their home would keep piling up with expensive crap she doesn’t need or want.

Inko has two exceptions to her aversion to luxury: food and travel. Inko had never been outside Japan before they started dating. Before Izuku was born, if All Might needed to go out of the country for hero work or events, Parakeet came with him. She fell in love with all the exotic foods of the world, and Toshi learned to cook specifically to bring those foods to her. He has multiple subscriptions to different food-based monthly loot boxes that deliver hard to find ingredients from all around the world. The thing that eventually convinces Inko to take a job at UA is the promise that she’ll get to eat his cooking every day again.

Toshi on the other hand is very easy to buy gifts for. Anything related to pre-quirk superheroes, or kitchen gadgets. They have nearly a dozen different shapes for their waffle maker as that was Inko’s go-to for his birthday for a few years.

Inko is hardly a bad cook herself, she just doesn’t enjoy it as much. There are only a few dishes she takes the lead on in the Midoriya-Yagi household, but everyone agrees she makes them better than anyone. One of those is katsudon, which is so incredible, it’s ruined all other katsudon for Izuku. Even though it’s his favorite, everything else ends up tasting bland in comparison.

She did take the job at UA not long after the events of Dekugate, teaching a much more involved search and rescue course than previously offered. It’s a lot harder than any of the kids expected based on how sweet she was on Nabu. Toshi, the eternal softie, asks her more than once to go a little easier on them. You ever seen that post comparing two people’s reaction to a cat being in jail? “Nooooo! He’s innocent!” vs “I have no sympathy for this criminal.” That’s them with the students.

But she and Toshi continued to be lovey-dovey in front of the students to embarrass Izuku. He doesn’t actually mind that much. He’s just happy his family is safe and together again.

[mollymarymarie]

Hi! I LOVE DYH so when a friend told me about Bird Set Free I ran so fast to read it and the way I literally screeched out loud when I read that Remus is Half Japanese in this fic?! Im half Japanese and I also love katsudon and daifuku and called my Grandpa Jiji and the happiness that brought me.....thank you :') Also, I've been binging all your other fics while I wait for new chapters and idk why its taken me this long to do so but I LOVE THEM ALL

OH MY GOSH THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY!!! I'm so glad you like the fic but I'm so excited I got these little things right! (especially Baba and Jiji because I read some things say yes its common to say for grandchildren and others say it was disrespectful but i was like ITS SO CUTE THO) so I am so so so happy that it made you happy!! And you came back and made me happy, so I think we're even! ❤️

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Biweekly Media Roundup

- Trigun (Anime) - Still hyperfixated, there’s some pretty good fics coming out for this fandom. 

- The Vampire Dies In No Time (Anime) - I don’t have anything new to say about this one, it’s stupid but in an endearing way, John is adorable. 

- Love Is War (Anime) - Now completely caught up, I definitely see why this is one of the top ranked romance anime, its very funny with super likable characters and creative setups for comedy. There actually seems to be quite a lack of fanrt for it though considering the size of the fandom, strange. 

- Tengoku Daimakyou (Anime) - I’m not sure what to expect with this one which is a good thing, it’s got some genuinely interesting worldbuilding so far. Also a trans lead, which is pretty cool. I’m really interested to see where this goes, it’s been a while since I’ve gone so blind into a mystery like this. 

- Dr, Stone (Anime) - Glad it’s back, the bread baking concept was fun, and I still love Senku as a protagonist. 

- Oshi No Ko (Anime) - Well this show is. Interesting. I saw it trending pretty high on my anime list which I thought was strange given that idol anime rarely break out of their specific idol-loving fanbase, but then I read a summary on the first episode and yeah I get it now. There are some...weird elements to the story that I really don’t appreciate but the main plot is pretty engaging, and I’m really enjoying all the behind the scenes entertainment industry info and acting drama-Makes me nostalgic for Skip Beat!.I need more time to grow attached to the characters themselves but if they keep up the acting drama this could be a favorite for the season.

- Campfire Cooking in Another World (Anime) - Finished the first season of this relaxing cooking anime. I think it succeeded in being exactly wanted it wanted to be, and I can respect that. I hope it gets a 2nd season, as I quite like this little monster family and want to see their low stakes adventures continue. Also it made me really miss Japanese food with how good they made it look. I want katsudon so bad. 

- The Locked Tomb Series (Books) - Well the end of Gideon the Ninth made me feel many emotions. I’m making my way through Harrow fairly slowly but the Ianth/Harrow interactions have been a blast. I miss Gideon though TT_TT Please let me see my lesbian himbo soon.

- Resident Evil 4 (Video Game) - Most of the way through 4 now, we’ve been watching the cutscenes with stupid outfits on Leon and Ashley which really changes the tone of them I’ll tell you. I forgot how short of a game it is but it’s been a ton of fun. Might buy it myself to replay a few times.

As usual I’m also keeping up with The Greatest Estate Developer, Land of the Lustrous, The Vampire Dies In No Time, and The S Classes that I raised.

Listening to: All Things End & Eat Your Young by Hozier, Stalkers Tango by Autoheart, Jesus He Knows Me cover by Ghost, The End of the Movie & I Hate Everything But You from Crazy Ex Girlfriend, This Is Not A Party by The Wombats, King of Anything by Sara Bareilles, Never Love an Anchor by The Crane Wives, Two Birds by Regina Spektor, They’re Only Human (DNtM OST)

[stammiviktor]

no but okay so I’ve always known that Yuri on Ice is a very ace show. Yuuri “Pork Cutlet Bowls are Eros” Katsuki has been demisexual in my heart (and fic) since forever. I’ve also always known that this show (specifically Yuuri’s struggles to embrace his sexual/sensual side in the front half of the show) has always hit closer to my heart than anything ever has before. I guess I just never fully connected the two.

It’s those early-season episodes that really got me on the rewatch, though. And I’ve noticed a few different piece that really hit me in the gut. The following is very non-exhaustive list:

(And I’m going to use my own experience here, though I know that this isn’t the experience of all ace people). 

1) Yuuri Debuts His Eros (ep. 2 and 3) — It’s incredibly difficult to embrace yourself as a sexual being when everyone around you is following the “normal path” of crushes/dating/hooking up and you simply aren’t. It makes you feel like a child and it makes other people look at you like a child, an incomplete person. It’s taking the Rice Purity Test in college and your new friends cooing at your crazy high score — and you don’t know how to tell them how shitty that feels, or that you’ve been writing explicit stories since middle school and are plenty sexual on your own, in private. Your inexperience with partnered sex make you feel like you aren’t worthy of claiming yourself as a sexual being. (Which may be something some ace people aren’t interested in; but for me it’s important.) 

This is what I see so much in Yuuri when he’s having his lil crisis after Viktor assigns him On Love: Eros. Yuuri knows how he’s perceived (or perhaps, he projects how he perceives himself onto the people around him)—so when presented with Agape and Eros, of course he expects he’ll be assigned the sweet, tender, unconditional love, and not the sensual, seductive eroticism. Trying to do the second is unthinkable. It’s that feeling of they’ll laugh at me, they’ll take one look at me and they’ll know that I’m a phony, playing pretend. And to some extent, that’s backed up by some people around him -- like Takeshi tells Yuuri, that playboy story doesn’t sound like you at all. 

What is Eros to Yuuri? He doesn’t know how to answer that. Something sensual, something luxurious. Something he wants but does not feel worthy enough to have. Katsudon. After he says that, he runs off mortified and says “they totally think my ideas are way too immature” -- there’s that “they think I’m a child” piece again.

The thing that’s so beautiful about the show, though, is the way this is handled (something @rikichie pointed out to me, that I didn’t fully realize). Viktor doesn’t bat an eye at Yuuri’s Eros of the Pork Cutlet Bowl. He encourages Yuuri by telling him to ‘imagine more the entangling of the egg’, totally devoid of any irony. It’s just feels so healing, that unthinking acceptance and encouragement. The utter absence of pity.

And the way they resolve Yuuri’s “I Can’t Be Erotic” crisis feels healing, too — because it’s basically just the sheer power of Viktor, his idol, believing he can do it. Even though Yuuri doesn’t know it, Viktor has experienced the force that is Yuuri’s sexuality when Yuuri was too drunk to repress it or feel shame, so knows that Yuuri’s sexuality is not some non-entity. 

It so easily could have been resolved differently—Yuuri’s eros “problem” could have suddenly been “fixed” by showing his sexuality awoken by sexual attraction to Viktor, which makes him finally worthy of expressing himself as a sexual being. But that’s not at all what happens. It’s not about his attraction to Viktor. Yuuri’s sexuality is allowed to live separately from his attraction to others. Yuuri is able to let his sexuality to see the light of day because Viktor, his idol, sees the whole of him. Viktor believes that Yuuri has a sexuality and should feel no shame at letting the world see it. And once Yuuri begins to see that he is right, he can finally let that part of himself breathe and grow without shame. 

2) A Love that Defies Labels (ep. 4 and 5) — I think as an aroace person I’m drawn to characters in relationships that defy the normal classifications and timelines and roles; pairings where the “what are we” question isn’t clear cut, where the societal script for relationship progression/labeling just doesn’t apply. And really, what better captures the spirit of this than Yuuri’s sentiment in the episode 5 press conference? 

Yuuri says that his love for Viktor isn’t something clear cut like romantic love. Until this recent rewatch, I guess I interpreted that as like... a line for the censors? It’s not romance everybody, it’s not gay, don’t worry. And maybe it serves that function a little bit. But in the story, Yuuri is saying that it’s something beyond what could be encapsulated by just the words “romantic love.”

I’ve been grappling a lot lately with what it is I’m not experiencing that other people seem to be. I’m spending so much time just trying to beat back the sadness about it with my bare hands, constantly needing to remind myself that romance is not the pinnacle of the relationship pyramid, but just one way to feel love, and the other ways run just as deep. To say a relationship is not romantic should not diminish it -- it just opens up all these other avenues of intimacy. 

There’s something healing, again, about the way Yuuri talks about the love between him and Viktor; the way he almost bypasses romantic love entirely, references it as an afterthought, just one piece of what he is experiencing. And the way he lumps his new, transformative love for Viktor in with his love of his friends and family... it just soothes a spot in me that’s aching. 

The episode 4 beach scene captures this, too. Viktor tries to get Yuuri to tell him what he wants him to be -- a boyfriend? -- and Yuuri shuts it down. He wants Viktor to be who he is. He doesn’t want either of them contorting into versions of themselves that they think they ought to be in order to fit some prescribed roles. They just are who they are, and they meet each other where they are. 

3) Yuuri’s sexuality is up for interpretation — Yuuri Katsuki is such an ace character, and I don’t even have to mean that literally for it to be true. He gets the honorary ace card, in my heart, because of how his arc makes me feel. But the cool thing is that you could read Yuuri’s sexuality to be pretty much anything except for straight. I don’t have an interest in saying there’s a right answer there.

Personally, I just so appreciate is that they wrote this show with a character who could be read as ace, but for whom that label does not mean he has no sexuality. That was such a rub with me (and I think many others) in coming to accept that label for ourselves. And while I’m sure there are plenty of aces for whom that’s an accurate or resonant way to think of themselves, there are plenty of others who couldn’t see asexuality on themselves until they reframed it — seeing it not as a lack of sexuality, but as a kind of self-contained sexuality. A sexuality that does not need an object of attraction to exist. To those people -- to me -- Yuri on Ice says, “You, too, can be a sexual or sensual being. You don’t need to prove yourself. You can just be.” 

Anyway, that’s just me. What about this character/show resonated with everyone else???

rewatching Yuri on Ice after realizing you’re ace HITS DIFFERENT

[yoificfinder]

Hi! Thank you so much for organizing something like this. I've been searching for a fic I know I read at least two years ago (not sure of age). It's a soulmate AU where all the nicknames/petnames your soulmate gives you are all over your skin (before you meet). Yuuri is covered in them and at one point someone says to Yuuri "You are going to be so loved". I also remember that Mari has only one and it's "B----" :( If you could help me find this I'd appreciate it so much!! Thank you!

Hiii! It's the second chapter in this collection of one-shot soulmates AUs Drunk on You by @kiaronna

Ch. 2 Pet Names

Yuuri has to wear long sleeves and pants to hide all of them—the winding Cyrillic that covers his skin, spotted with English words, phrases in kanji (my katsudon), and even Greek, for heaven’s sake. Viktor only has three: his name in beautiful Cyrillic, something complex in kanji his Japanese neighbor is too scandalized to translate, and in English a single word: coach.

Soulmate AU where all of your partner's nicknames for you are inscribed on your skin from birth

[triptychgrip]

Story Preview: Yuuri vs. Yurio on Hot Ones Versus

“And that’s already ten extra dollars in my pocket!” Mila gleefully called out, referring to the bet that she, Georgi, Sara, and Otabek were all in on.

“Why are you even here again?” Yura dryly lobbed back. “Katsudon gets his lovesick husband plus Kenjirou to fan him, mop his sweaty brow, and generally fuss over his well-being, while you’re just…what? Here to heckle and wish for my downfall?”

As Yuuri suspected he would, Viktor took this opening to gasp, theatrically, throwing a hand to his forehead like a storybook maiden that had just heard an earnestly breathless confession of love.

“Yura, I never knew you wished for me to fuss over you!” he cried, swaying a bit on his feet as if dizzied by the prospect. “And all this time, I believed you repulsed by my protective inclinations!”

The subsequent profanity-laden sentence from Yura would most definitely have to be bleeped out in the final cut, and Yuuri took a second to quiet his laughter before reaching for the first card in his pile.

“Ok, Yura…for round 1.”

He read it silently to himself, fighting the urge to giggle; it was actually a good thing Mila was here, because she’d be able to join him in calling Yura out if he tried to lie while answering.

“Before you left Russia to begin training here in Japan – a move that was catalyzed by your missing Viktor and I so very dearly once we’d left –” (Yuuri paused and grinned when Kenjirou whooped, delightedly) “– you were known as a little bit of a bully at Yubileyny, in particular towards the local hockey teams that occasionally rented out the ice. Describe the meanest thing you ever did to haze a fellow rinkmate or hockey player.”

A vivid memory of Yakov screaming his head off over a rather unfortunate hair dye incident floated to the forefront of Yuuri’s mind and he took a second to bask in the recollection.

“Or…feel free to eat a death wing," he finished, firmly.

After seeing my Vanity Fair Lie Detector game fic do so well, I've decided to continue my post-canon media appearance antics by writing another face-off, this time taking place betwwen Yuuri and Yurio as they battle each other/"the wings of death" while taping an episode of Hot Ones Versus.

If you enjoy the idea of their friendly rivalry, highly sappy/extra Viktuuri moments, and questions/answers that illuminate how our favorite character dynamics might have evolved a few years post-canon, I invite you to be on the lookout for this story, which I hope to upload to ao3 sometime in November (probably after I update my Olympics-focused WIP/series).

I haven't yet decided if I want this to be a very long one-shot or a 2-chapter fic, but in any event, folks who've read my other work probably know that shortfic is really hard for me…I really struggle to keep things brief and with something like this, I can't imagine it being anything less than 5-8K words in length. Especially because I want to include Viktor, Yuuri and Yuri’s POVs.

Lol…hope you’ll cheer me on and in the meantime, I’ve written lots of other (mostly post-canon) Yuri!!! on Ice fic you may want to check out.

[blonndiec]

Hey there! We have a lot of what you're mentioning, so buckle up! Too much eros, katsudon and silly coach Viktor. ⛸️

✨ Welcome to the community, @see-u-next-level! ✨

There are a lot of amazing accounts out there very much still active and so many creators still putting amazing art out there! (I hope it's okay if I tag you all, just trying to spread the love) You will start to discover them little by little, but as @triptychgrip mentioned some of the accounts, I'll put here some (these are in the top of my mind right now or in the surface of my ADHD-d current hyperfocus) of the artist whose amazing art not only has kept YoI alive but still make us all reblog all the time their brautiful artwork @blended-ice, @cosmiclion @gabapple @bullsfish @zephyrine-gale @rikichie @ssselthrovv @tosquinha @nae812 @tanngeneri @rhapeseuhans @saitubaki @rosereleasestheart @crimson-chains @victuri-2024 @hinamie

As for fanfiction, there are A LOT. Like, really a lot. I still haven't go all through them (I am kind of new in the fandom too hehe) but I have a list for the ones that really consider like TOP TIER and let me put it here but I know there are still some missing there so I'll be sure to update it accordingly. But I would super recommend you works by @linisen, @triptychgrip @gabapple @muttthecowcatridesagain @miss-meri @buttercup-yoi @japansace @lucycamui @my-private-tsukuyomi @neutronstarchild @al-killer

For accounts to follow for content and most important, accounts that have permission from the original artist of posting their art here on tumblr, most deffinitely recommend @miyakuli , @alexseanchai and @fishyskates too! And for metas, love what @moonlightseve writes! Also @rikeijo does the amazing task of translating YoI content from the sources in japanese, so if you want all the insights and little details that sometimes are buried in the collection books and magazines, most definitely recommend check their account.

I myself do some writing and attempt to make illustrations too, you can find it on my Ao3 page and here on my tumblr account. But if you want to geek out about a fic, an art that you found and all the amazing YoI content out there, please don't hesitate on writing through DM. ✨✨✨Again, welcome!✨✨✨

hey there, yoi fandom!

i watched this show for the first time a few weeks ago, loved it, and am so far unable to stop thinking about it, so i thought i’d make a sideblog to post and reblog stuff about it :)

since i’m so new to a fandom that’s been here for a couple of years, what i’d really like to ask is… firstly, who’s still here? i know that there’s definitely still a lot of yoi blogs on here — seeing @jewishvitya’s (i hope it’s ok to tag you ansvsjdgdj) posts is kind of what pushed me to finally watch this show in the first place :D —but most of the blogs i’ve stumbled upon either haven’t posted in a couple of years or are about different fandoms now. feel free to interact with this post if you post abt yoi, i’d love to have your stuff on my dash!

secondly, i wanted to ask if there’s any, like, canon stuff or iconic things i should know about it? i know of welcome to the madness and the ice adolescence teaser, but that’s it. are there any like, interviews or comics or other promotional content that you enjoyed seeing, or are a kind of ‘staple’ of the fandom, if that makes sense?

and lastly i just kind of wanted to know if there’s anything y’all recommend in terms of fanworks? it can be fics that are popular in the fandom or things that you’ve personally made or enjoyed! i really just want more stuff about these characters tbh. i don’t really mind any ships or characters, and am fine with all ratings, so like, go wild :)

also… i may be stupid😭, but why does the fandom usually spell yuuri (k) with two ‘u’s, when the show usually doesn’t? i’m just curious about how/why this came about, i think i’m maybe missing smth

ahsjshdjdhd this is the only specific thing on this post but i’ve been thinking about the final episode a lot and i’ve been trying to find some kind of jj and yuuri fic that’s about the two of them and their weddings after the final, but also their feelings about where they placed, their similar breakdowns at the gpf etc. i haven’t really been able to find a fic like this on ao3 so if you know of one i’d love a link to it! :)

[vitavitali]

Love is a Pork Cutlet Bowl

This is basically just @kiaronna‘s yoi frozen au and I merely worded it. Thanks for letting me write for this AU!

Now

Light floods the castle as the windows and doors are thrown open. The castle staff are working in an excited frenzy, cleaning the entire castle once again from top to bottom. They’ve cleaned the castle before, monthly actually, but there’s a spark to their actions that Yuuri has never witnessed before. It’s contagious and Yuuri finds himself swept up with their emotions, walking from room to room. The castle feels like an entirely new place to him or, rather, a very old place that he’s managed to rediscover.

Yuuri can only vaguely remember the last time the castle had been this open.

-o-

16 years ago

Petrograd was a beautiful place, especially during the winter.

There was a fresh layer of snow that had fallen just the night before and it glittered like a blanket of crystals as the sun shone onto it. The sight would be breathtaking for someone unused to it but Viktor had lived in Petrograd for all his life and so it was just another winter day for him. In fact, due to his ability to create frost and ice from nothing, it could be said that it was literally just another day for him.

The annual Petrograd Christmas Market was in full swing and Viktor enjoyed coming here every year on his birthday; it almost felt like the entire kingdom was celebrating it with Viktor. The joy and excitement of the Christmas Market also made Petrograd feel like a completely different place, full of life and colour.

As Viktor drifted away from the hustle and bustle of the market to take a breather, he noticed a boy with black hair, not that much younger than him, sitting down with his arms curled around his knees. Concerned, Viktor walked up to the boy.

“Hi, are you alright? Do you need help?” Viktor asked. The boy stared blankly at him for a long moment with his dark brown eyes before saying something in a different language. Oh. So he was a tourist. Viktor was the prince of Petrograd, though, and he knew quite a number of languages due to his studies, even if he didn’t know the language the boy had spoken in. Viktor tried a variety of other languages, hoping to find common ground, and finally settled on English. English wasn’t his best language, but he knew enough.

“My name is Viktor,” Viktor introduced himself. “You?”

The boy bit his lip and then replied with, “Yuuri.”

“Yuuri!” Viktor tested the name on his tongue. It was a nice name. “Yuuri needs help?”

Yuuri nodded shyly.

“Okay, then I will help you.” Viktor extended a hand and watched as Yuuri’s face lit up with a soft, warm smile. Viktor could feel a similar smile growing on his own face.

“Thank you, Viktor.”

-o-

Now

Yuuri can feel his heart pounding, can hear its quick and panicked ba-bumps nearly drowning out any other sounds present in coronation hall. It’s silly because Yuuri isn’t even the one becoming king, isn’t even standing apart from the rest of the kingdom, but he still feels nervous.

The doors open to reveal a tall figure with long silver hair, like moonlight spun into silk, in a loose braid. Yuuri remembers his eyes to be as bright and blue as a lake on a pleasant summer’s day, open as the sky and glittering like the snow. Viktor looks as beautiful as the day Yuuri first saw him, the day Yuuri last saw him, and all the days in between and it takes Yuuri’s breath away. Yuuri feels his heart clench and it almost feels like nothing has changed between them.

Viktor’s eyes sweep across the room as he slowly but surely walks to the front of the coronation hall, his head held high and his posture stiff and formal. His gaze lands on Yuuri for a split second and Yuuri sees frozen ice before it flits away.

Yuuri can physically feel his heart sink and chides himself for being an idiot. There is no reason Viktor would take notice of him.

There’s nothing special about Yuuri, after all.

-o-

14 years ago

Viktor was full of excitement. His parents have told him that Yuuri and his sister is coming over to stay with them in Petrograd!

For the past two years, he and Yuuri had been trading letters with each other using English and drawings when their language capabilities fell short. While Petrograd was beautiful, it also was familiar and structured in a way that made Viktor feel breathless. The dullness and monotony of everything stifled Viktor and Viktor only had Yuuri’s letters to look forward to every two weeks and now Yuuri was going to be staying with him!

Yuuri and Mari arrived in a carriage along with many luggages. Upon seeing Yuuri, Viktor immediately threw himself forward and wrapped his arms around Yuuri.

“Yuuri!” he said excitedly. “It’s good to see you again!”

“Yeah,” Yuuri replied quietly. “It’s good to see you too, Viktor.”

Viktor frowned and pulled back slightly so that he could see Yuuri’s face. Yuuri didn’t seem happy to be here and Viktor wanted to know if there was anything he could do to make Yuuri feel better.

“Yuuri,” Viktor said. “Why are you sad?”

Yuuri’s eyes were downcast.

“I’m not sad,” Yuuri said. His bottom lip wobbled. Before Viktor could do anything, Mari swept in to take Yuuri away.

“I apologise, your highness,” Mari told him. “But Yuuri and I have had a long journey and we need our rest.”

Viktor blinked and pouted but nodded in understanding.

“I understand. I’ll see you later, Yuuri!”

Yuuri forced out a smile in return.

-o-

Now

There is a party that, while Yuuri is prepared for, still dreads attending.

Viktor stands by the side of the hall, his figure a regal and intimidating sight. He makes no move to join the festivities and merely watches over them with a small and mild smile on his face that doesn’t seem to reach his eyes.

Yuuri wants to approach him, has been thinking about it and making plans on how to do so ever since he’s heard about the coronation and the party that happens after that, but when he thinks back to Viktor’s eyes moving past him like he is but one in a sea of many, Yuuri’s courage drains out of him like melted snow falling through his fingers.

-o-

14 years ago

Viktor had never cooked a day in his life, but he was determined to learn.

A few weeks before, Viktor had gotten into contact with Yuuri’s mother, Hiroko, to find out ways on how to cheer Yuuri up, because Viktor could tell that Yuuri was feeling absolutely horrible in Petrograd which made Viktor feel absolutely horrible too because what kind of friend was he if Yuuri felt miserable in his house?

Hiroko had assured Viktor that it was no fault of his but Viktor was determined to right his perceived wrongs, starting with cooking Yuuri’s favourite meal: the Pork Cutlet Bowl.

Viktor already knew that Yuuri loved pork cutlet bowls, known from the countless letters he’s gotten from Yuuri about the delicious food and the promises of eating it together. That had been something Viktor was looking forward to when Yuuri came to live in Petrograd.

Viktor’s first attempt at cooking the pork cutlet bowl ended up with sinewy, gross meat and Viktor knew that it definitely wasn’t up to Hiroko’s standards.

And so he tried again. And again. And again.

The castle staff started to avoid the kitchen to prevent themselves from being dragged into the kitchen and getting trapped there for hours in Viktor’s quest to cook the Best Pork Cutlet Bowl.

Yuuri found him on his thirty-sixth try covered entirely in flour and egg.

“Viktor,” Yuuri asked. “What are you doing?”

“Uhhh,” Viktor said, because he intended for the pork cutlet bowl to be a surprise.

Yuuri surveyed the disaster scene of a kitchen in front of him and asked, incredulously, “Are you making pork cutlet bowls?”

“Y...es?” Viktor answered hesitantly. There was a moment of tense and awkward silence before Yuuri let out a small giggle.

“That’s, that’s really not how you go about doing it,” he told Viktor, stepping into the kitchen. “You’re supposed to dip the meat in the flour first, not the egg.”

“But isn’t the egg for the flour to stick?”

“No, it’s for the bread crumbs. The egg would mess up the flavour of the meat and make the flour clump together.” Yuuri washed his hand and reached for the meat. He paused. “Did you even tenderize the meat?”

Viktor blinked. “What’s that?”

“What’s that--” Yuuri shook his head. “Do you have another apron? It’ll be better to show you.”

Viktor looked around for another apron. A member of the cooking staff surreptitiously passed it to him and then he passed it to Yuuri. Yuuri rolled up his sleeves.

“Okay, first you have to...”

Later on, when the pork cutlet bowl was done, Yuuri asked Viktor, “Why were you making these in the first place?”

“Oh, that’s...” Viktor blushed. “I wanted to make you feel better and I remembered how much you love pork cutlet bowls so I got the recipe from your mum and wanted to surprise you but, well.”

“O-oh.” Yuuri looked down at his bowl. “So that’s what you were doing. I thought you were avoiding me.”

“I would never avoid you!” Viktor gasped in outrage. He had meant it, back then.

“That’s, that’s good then.” Yuuri looked up again and gave Viktor a smile that made Viktor feel warm from the inside out.

“Yeah, that’s good,” Viktor echoed. He finally tried a bite of the pork cutlet bowl that Yuuri and he made. It’s delicious.

-o-

Now

Yuuri is going to melt into the wall even if it’s the last thing he does.

The only person Yuuri knows in this party is Viktor and, considering that they haven’t spoken in years, Yuuri might not even have that. It would be easier if Mari were here but she had eloped with a blonde musician about two years back and the only contact Yuuri had with her now was mainly through letters.

As it is, Yuuri merely sticks to the walls of the ballroom and wistfully throws looks at Viktor every now and then. Yuuri wishes he could talk to Viktor again but the memories of closed doors, silence, and pork cutlet bowls left to the cold eat at Yuuri too much.

“Good evening,” a voice says from behind Yuuri, startling Yuuri out of his depressing spiral of thoughts. Yuuri whirls around to see a young lady with long, curly brown hair and a pretty golden ballgown standing in front of him.

“Good evening,” Yuuri greets back, because he is polite.

“Do you care for a dance?” the lady asks.

“Uhhhhh,” Yuuri says. He tells himself not to look at Viktor. He looks, anyway, and Viktor is not looking at him. He feels that same sinking of his heart and wonders what he expected.

Yuuri turns back at the lady and offers his hand.

“Sure,” he says.

-o-

13 years ago

They laughed as the twirled across the empty ballroom floor. The silvery glow of the moon filtered in through the windows, leaving spots of light for Viktor and Yuuri to dance to.

“You’re becoming too tall,” Yuuri told Viktor, pouting.

“It’s just a growth spurt,” Viktor replied. “You’ll have one too!”

“It’s not fair that you get to be so much taller than me,” Yuuri said. Despite his words, he didn’t seem to be complaining. He stroked the long strands of Viktor’s hair that he could reach and smiled to himself.

“Well, since I’m taller than you,” Viktor began with a playful smirk. “I can do this!”

He wrapped his arms around Yuuri and, with some effort, he lifted Yuuri up onto his shoulder.

“Viktor!” Yuuri shrieked in surprise. “Put me down! Oh my god! Let me go!”

“Never,” Viktor laughed, turning round and round. “I’ll never let you go!”

Viktor’s strength soon gave out and they ended up a giggling heap on the ground, Yuuri sprawled across Viktor.

“What was that about never letting me go?” Yuuri taunted. Without missing a beat, Viktor wrapped his arms around Yuuri.

“Stay by my side and never leave me,” Viktor said with a grin.

“Isn’t that the name of a song?” Yuuri asked.

“Yeah, you got me.” Viktor relaxed onto the floor. “But I still mean it.”

Yuuri shifted until he was face to face with Viktor, still lying down.

“Alright then, I’ll always stay by your side, if you stay by mine.”

“Deal.”

-o-

Now

“I saw you glancing at King Viktor a few times,” Princess Chihoko says after their dance. Yuuri had missed the socially acceptable time to appear that he wanted to leave for other things. “What is your relation to him? I did hear that you grew up here in Petrograd.”

“Oh, that.” Yuuri smiles awkwardly with his mouth. He doesn’t understand why Princess Chihoko doesn’t seem to notice. “V-- King Viktor and I used to be close when we were little but one day he just... shut me out.” Literally.

“Oh.” Princess Chihoko looks sympathetic and sad. Yuuri kind of hates it. She takes Yuuri’s hands in hers and leans in close. “I would never shut you out,” she tells him.

“Ah,” Yuuri says, because he doesn’t know what else to say.

“Love is an open door,” Princess Chihoko continues.

Yuuri blinks. He thinks of his mother, cooking his favourite food in the kitchen during his birthdays. His father, sitting with him during late nights at the dining table going through lessons and sharing a steaming pork cutlet bowl. His sister and him, secretly trying to recreate the same flavour during the nights before their parents’ birthdays. Viktor, beautiful, uncalloused hands filled with burns and flour in his hair as he tries to make Yuuri feel better.

Yuuri gently but firmly takes back his hands. “No,” he declares flatly, “love is a pork cutlet bowl.”

-o-

10 years ago

Yuuri is the sun, Viktor thought to himself. Yuuri was the sun’s warmth in contrast to Viktor’s winter cold.

Yuuri’s hand in his was warm, Yuuri’s laughter was warm, Yuuri’s eyes were warm, Yuuri’s favourite food was especially warm.

Viktor knew how to create ice, control frost with simple flicks of his wrists. He could freeze and entire lake and melt it again with a simple twitch of his fingers.

Viktor knew the cold like an old friend, like it was part of him, but he never really knew warmth. Not until Yuuri.

-o-

Now

“Did you enjoy your dance with Princess Chihoko of Sachi?” Viktor asks. Yuuri’s heart almost leaps out of his chest. He didn’t expect for Viktor to approach him tonight and was solely unprepared for it.

“V-Viktor?” Yuuri stutters out before quickly correcting himself. “King Viktor,” he says again, more controlled as he bows. When he looks up again, there is a complicated expression on Viktor’s face.

“You don’t have to call me that,” Viktor tells him. “Just Viktor is fine.”

Yuuri wants to call him that. Yuuri wants to call him Viktor like he used to, like nothing has changed, but he can’t.

“I couldn’t, King Viktor,” Yuuri tells him. He takes a step back. Viktor’s hand twitches.

“Your parents say that Princess Chihoko is a good match for you,” Viktor says. Yuuri freezes.

“What?”

“You’re twenty-three now, about to be twenty-four. You no longer have to stay in Petrograd for protection. You can leave the kingdom for better things,” Viktor continues. “I assume that you’ll be going back to Hasetsu, to take over your parents’ kingdom, your birthright, since Mari doesn’t seem to want to rule Hasetsu. A marriage with Princess Chihoko would be beneficial to that.”

“Are you...” Yuuri’s head is spinning. “Are you literally asking me to marry a person I just met?”

Viktor doesn’t meet his eyes. “It’s not uncommon,” he says. “Arranged marriages do exist. And you can’t live like this forever, holed up here in Petrograd.”

Oh. Oh. Viktor is telling him to leave.

Yuuri stares at him. Viktor finally looks back at Yuuri and jolts.

“Y-Yuuri?”

Yuuri feels warmth dripping down his cheeks.

Viktor reaches out to Yuuri with a gloved hand but pauses halfway and pulls it back. Yuuri grabs onto him but he only succeeds in pulling the glove off of Viktor’s hand.

“Yuuri, please give me back my glove,” Viktor says slowly, warily.

“Are you telling me to leave?” Yuuri asks.

“No, of course not!” Viktor says hurriedly. “Only if you want to! Please give me back my glove, Yuuri.”

“Then why would you say something like that, like you’re trying to test me?!” Yuuri shouts.

“Yuuri--”

“You once told me to stay by your side, and never leave. Was that a lie? Do you regret that now?!”

“It, it isn’t that simple, Yuuri,” Viktor says with an exasperated sigh. He places a hand on his forehead, as if he has a headache. “You don’t understand.”

“Then help me understand, Viktor!” Yuuri isn’t above begging. “Just tell me--”

“I can’t!” Viktor yells and Yuuri is stunned into silence. Viktor never yells.

Cold seeps through him and it takes a while to realise that it isn’t just emotional.

The entire ballroom floor is covered with a layer of ice, and the thickest part of it is where Viktor is. Small sparks of blue slowly fade from Viktor’s ungloved hand and Viktor stumbles back.

“Viktor,” Yuuri begins. He takes a step forward but Viktor runs away. Ice begins to climb the walls of the ballroom, spikes sticking out of them. The air turns colder and colder, and Yuuri can see his own breath. Behind him, someone sighs.

“Worst surprise ever,” Duke JJ declares.

-o-

14 years ago

“Father says that the earliest I can be coronated and become King is at eighteen,” Viktor said to Yuuri.

“And the latest?”

Viktor wrinkled his nose. “Who cares about that,” he said. “Why would I want to push back my coronation?”

“I don’t know,” Yuuri replied. “I can think of a lot of reasons on why I would want to push back my coronation.”

“But there’s so many things you could do when you’re king!” Viktor exclaimed. “You could make is legal for people to take dogs anywhere they want! You could make it illegal for parents to prevent their children from getting dogs!” Viktor still wasn’t over the fact that his parents refused to let him adopt a dog. “What would you want to do, if you were king?” Viktor asked Yuuri.

“Pork cutlet bowls,” Yuuri said quietly.

“What?”

“Pork cutlet bowls,” Yuuri said, louder this time. He looked at Viktor straight in the eye. “I want to eat pork cutlet bowls with you every day.”

“Wow!” Viktor felt his face flush and placed his hands on either side of his face. “That almost sounds like a marriage proposal.”

“Haha,” Yuuri laughed sheepishly. “It kind of does, doesn’t it?”

“I accept!” Viktor said with a grin. “You’re my fiancee now, no take backs!”

“Viktor!” Yuuri groaned, but he didn’t say anything else. Viktor could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

Viktor felt so, so warm. He wanted to feel like that always.

Stuff that i really didn’t want to be missed:

Viktor: “And you can’t live like this forever, holed up here in Petrograd.”

vs

Anna: “I can’t live like this anymore!”

Elsa: “Then leave.”

[careysattheonsenagain]

Now seems as good a time as any to let y'all know that where YOI fan fiction is concerned, my general preference remains for stories that are CANON COMPLIANT. I know what you're thinking - "So vanilla!," but I beg to differ!

When an author allows me to savor the view from above, writhe hungrily from below, sweetly work my way around the outside, and then taste my way inside of an already existing, already delicious story leaving me wanting more, moRE, MORE!! of their new and decidedly non-vanilla, non-plain creation, they deserve all of my gratitude.

So...bring me your added scenes! your elaborations! your internal dialogues! your alternate points of view! your missed-opportunities-now-fulfilled! Make the implicit explicit and I will happily lap it up like it is the richest bowl of katsudon and exclaim, "is this what God reads?"

Here are 5 utterly delectable CANON COMPLIANT fics I recently read and LOVED ( + 1 utterly charming non-canon compliant meet-cute I accidentally stumbled into [which is, come to think of it, a meet-cute in and of itself!]) by @kiaronna , @generaljanuary , faeriefirefly, @braveten , @feels-like-fire and @linisen

[monstersinthecosmos]

maybe i am not enough

fanmix for beside the dancing sea by @omgkatsudonplease

01. layla frost - solitude 02. anathema - the beginning and the end 03. katatonia - residual 04. my sleeping karma - brahama 05. if these trees could talk - from roots to needles 06. sophie hutchings - tail lights 07. steven wilson - harmony korine 08. alcest - untouched 09. magna carta cartel - dollhouse decoration 10. cynic - integral 11. riverside - time travellers 12. agnes obel - citizen of glass 13. ramin djawadi - reveries 14. porcupine tree - the sleep of no dreaming 15. gazpacho - upside down 16. the pineapple thief - the final thing on my mind 17. anathema - springfield

listen on youtube.